The Gospel According to Chicken Man

I've been concentrating on Fortnight For Freedom: spending an hour each evening, praying with others between the parish church and the rectory; and writing at least one post each day about some aspect of religious freedom.

Even yesterday's post, about some 'crazy college kids' who want to change the world, involved freedom of conscience:

• "College Kids, '100% Organic Sex,' and Me"
  (June 30, 2012)
  Particularly
  • But it Says in the Bible - - -
  • Freedom to Act Like God Matters

Living My Faith

Worship is important. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2083-2094) But I'm a practicing Catholic, so my faith isn't just something I do for an hour each Sunday.

I'm expected to serve God the rest of the time, too.

Some folks serve God in obvious ways: priests; deacons; nuns; monks. Everybody has a vocation, though, including the laity. For example, my vocation is marriage.

"The laity" are folks like me: Catholics who are single or married, and not ordained or in religious orders. (December 11, 2011) We're "marvellously called and prepared" for serving God.

I think I've got this right. For the laity, these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, if accomplished in the Holy Spirit:

• Works
• Prayers
• Apostolic undertakings
• Family and married life
• Daily work
• Relaxation of mind and body
• Even the hardships of life
  • If patiently born
  (Catechism, 901)

I put the full text of Catechism, 901, at the end of this post.

About faith and works: I don't think I can 'work my way into heaven.' (October 5, 2011) 'Just believing' isn't good enough, either:

"...Even the demons believe that and tremble...."
(James 2:18-20)

"Crime And/Or Evil"

I haven't heard an episode of the "Chicken Man" radio series in decades. A sort of avian Batman, this feathered crusader roamed Midland City in the Chicken Coupe, fighting "crime and/or evil."

As a whole, the Chicken Man series was fluffy entertainment. I'd never try writing a book called "The Gospel According to Chicken Man." On the other hand, someone wrote "The Gospel According to Peanuts:" and that's another topic.

One gag in Chicken Man had a kernel of truth, though. The Narrator declaimed, in a suitably over-dramatic way, that Chicken Man's mission was to fight "crime and/or evil."

At its best, secular law is based on sound ethics.

Sometimes it's not.

What's "legal" may not be right.

I'll get back to that idea tomorrow.

Related posts:

• Being Catholic
  • "'...A Time to Stand Up'"
    (June 27, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Religious Freedom and the Catholic Church
    • People Protesting: This is Good
    • Religious Freedom: It's Important
    • Speak Out: And Make Sense
  • "We Pray For Freedom"
    (June 25, 2012)
  • "Curing the Sick, Helping the Poor; Yes:
    Killing the Innocent; No"
    (June 24, 2012)
  • "The Important Idea, Charisms, and Working With What I've Got"
    (June 24, 2012)
  • "Taking Life a Thousand Years at a Time"
    (June 10, 2012)
• Credibility
  • "Father Beheads Daughter, Singer Killed: Opine, But Check Your Facts!"
    (June 19, 2012)
  • " 'A Consistent Ethic of Life,' Reality Checks About Religion, and a New Widget"
    (April 27, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Death Penalty, a Consistent Ethic of Life, and Connecticut
      • Mistakes, Executions, and the Super Bowl
      • Justice, Real and Imagined
    • Fundamentalist? Conservative? No, I'm Catholic
    • "To Proclaim Christ to the World"
    • What Folks Know, That Just Ain't So
      • Ignorance and Adequate Reporting
      • "Unnamed 'Church Leaders' "
      • "Vast Oversimplification"
  • "Catholics, Credulity, and Credibility"
    (February 12, 2012)
  • "Lie and Hype for a Good Cause?!"
    (November 28, 2011)
  • "Cultural Chaos, Divisiveness, and CNN"
    (April 1, 2010)

---

How the laity worship, in part:

" 'Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvellously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. And so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives.' ⁴³⁴"
(Catechism, 901)